100% Pure

By Cindy Martin –

Would you believe me if I told you I was a long lost daughter of Queen Elizabeth’s, and that I was banished from the royal family because I slurped my soup rather than sipping it? I probably can’t fool you on with that lie.

Would you believe me if I told you I once handed Queen Elizabeth a bouquet of flowers, and as I curtsied she nodded her head and said thank-you? Is this the truth? It’s a bit more difficult to discern if this is a lie or truth, isn’t it?

Like this example, the messages we hear from culture, our family and friends and even those that whisper inside of us are often difficult to discern between truth and deception.

If you had her size, you’d be beautiful too.
Your marriage would be better if your husband treated you like that guy does.
You’ll never get that job; you’re not smart enough.
If your co-worker liked you, she’d invite you out for lunch.

The most dangerous lie is the one that is closest to the truth. But there are no half-truths. Truth is pure, which means it has no contaminants. Truth is 100% true. Satan, the Father of Lies, takes truth and injects it with a lie and this deception wreaks havoc with our souls and minds.

God calls us to truth. God is the author of truth and His desire is for us to be so familiar and submersed in truth that we can spot a counterfeit. Deception kills, destroys and tears down. Truth builds up, holds fast and gives life. Our ability to discern truth comes from a relationship with God and He infuses us with wisdom and truth.

PRAYER: Lord, give me a passion for truth and may I cast off anything that is deception. Help me to know the difference.

“Keep me from deceitful ways; I have chosen the way of truth” (Psalm 119:29 – 30 NIV).

P.S. I did hand flowers to the Queen, just as I described. That’s the truth!

Enjoying Your Color

By Jarrod Spencer –

Most of you have probably heard for the song “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” It is a song that I have sung for as long as I can remember. The main verse that is sung mentions that whether you are “red, or yellow, black or white, [children] are precious in His sight.” We normally associate this with the color of one’s skin, to which it doesn’t matter, because Jesus loves all.

I want to take the concept of color into a little bit different direction. We all are a different color and together we make an awesome looking rainbow array of colors in this world.

We all have different skills, talents, favorites, desires, passions, education background, family background, and the list could go on. This brings us to this week’s quote:

The white light streams down to be broken up by those human prisms into all the colors of the rainbow. Take your own color in the pattern and be just that. – Charles R. Brown

If you’ve never had the chance to ‘break light’ with a prism, it is really a pretty cool thing to see. What seems like just ‘light’ becomes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Plus, there are variations of each one. There are more intense colors within a color and more dull colors within a color.

Our world is much the same way. The light will come down and be broken up into all of us. People made up of all types of talents, passions, desires, goals, etc.

We are not all administratively minded.
We are not all passive.
We are not all OCD.
We are not all parents.
We are not all CEOs.
We are not all miners.
We are not all artists.
We are not all musicians.

…get the point?

You are a person of color. Not pertaining to the color of your skin, but to what you are ‘composed’ of, inside. Sometimes you’ve been molded to become a certain color, people may have encouraged you to pursue something that you wouldn’t have tried, so they helped you become the color you are.

Appreciate whatever color you are…whether you are red, or yellow, black or white, you are still “precious in His sight” and your color is who you are.

And who you are is awesome!

Enjoying my ‘color’!

“He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created” (James 1:18 NIV).

New Year and a New You

By Cheri Cowell –

Statistics tell us 90% of Americans will make New Year’s resolutions. Sadly, 50% of us will have abandoned our goals by the end of January. Of those still holding on to hope, only 50% will be realized. So, why do we continue this tortuous ritual?

Perhaps it is the hope that this year we will make better choices. This year, we tell ourselves, will finally be the year we turn that corner, flip over the new leaf, and begin again.

In another ritual, during ancient days, the standard or flag was carried into battle by one sworn to uphold all that the emblem signified, even to the point of wrapping his body in the banner before the fatal blow should the safety of the symbol no longer be secured.

In the same way, Christ was God’s standard-bearer to the world. His standard is the measure by which we are called to live.

Are the goals you’ve set for 2013 based upon His standard or someone else’s? Are God’s goals part and parcel of your own goals? Are serving the poor and disadvantaged part of your goals? Is time in God’s Word scheduled into your calendar? If you’re not sure, you may want to make one of your goals to spend some time getting to know your Standard-Bearer better.

When we know His ways, we’ll know our way.

PRAYER: God, I declare today that You alone are my Standard-Bearer. Help me to align my goals and priorities in 2013 so they reflect Your standard, Your goals, Your heartbeat.

“He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. From the west, people will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along” (Isaiah 59:16-19 NIV).

Can You Help Me?

By Charlotte Riegel –

While visiting my son’s family, the grandchildren pulled out a bucket of play dough and set to work creating various wondrous things. Lilah, the thoughtful one, quietly began playing with the number molds, filling them, digging out the play dough and lining up the numbers. I wondered if she would soon be setting up a mathematical equation for me to solve.

Silas dug through the bucket looking for anything he could use to make an action figure. He eventually settled on a dinosaur mold that sort of looked like a turtle with holes in the shell for the spikes of a dinosaur. What surprised me was his use of the mold. Instead of filling it to create his beast, he began scraping the play dough across the holes, creating crumbles of play dough, or perhaps sand for his dino to walk in. At any rate, that’s all he did for nearly an hour and I silently wondered if perhaps he might become a chef one day, grating cheese and chocolate.

Zoe sat with a few pieces of play dough and some molds but seemed at a loss as to what she should do with them. “Gramma, can you help me?” she pleaded.

“Of course I can help you. What would you like me to do?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said.

“Well then,” I continued, “if you don’t know what you want me to do, how will you know I have helped you when I’m done?”

She took items out of the bucket and put them back in, then left the table apparently disinterested in play dough activities, and began playing with her dolls.

The next day when I felt at a loss with a circumstance facing me, I cried out to God, “Can you help me with this, Lord?” I immediately heard my play dough activity words to Zoe echo back to me.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

I have never doubted that God can help me, but if I’m not specific with my requests, how will I know that He answered my prayer?

PRAYER: Lord, today I need Your help with organizing my day appropriately to accomplish all that needs doing. And, it would be absolutely fabulous if You helped me succeed without becoming distraught, frustrated, or frantic. Amen.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see” (Mark 10:51 NIV).

Calling the Roll

By Hally Franz –

My children are members of Spring Branch Helping Hands 4-H Club, which formed when some families left the very large club, Spring Creek Lively Steppers. Both groups include kids with busy appendages and busy moms. As the current club leader, I write the monthly agendas, which include the roll call portion of the meeting. At each meeting, a truly thought-provoking question is posed to the young people. Their responses to the question verify their attendance.

Example questions include:
“What’s the scariest movie you have seen?” (October)
“Name a spring bird.” (April)
“What’s your favorite event at the county fair?” (July)

During our November meeting, kids were asked to name their favorite Thanksgiving food. My kindergarten nephew responded “beef – hot beef” with notable male enthusiasm. While his grandparents are cattle people, our Thanksgiving feast includes more foul than red meat.

There are usually a few “huh’s” or “whaaat’s” as we work through the list. These individuals have not paid attention to the assignment and need the question repeated for them specifically. A few members will simply say “here” indicating they choose not to participate. Others, sometimes even those with “W” names, are still pondering the question and require a few extra moments before answering. No problem – there are only 53 members in our group! A few of the younger, lively, helpful children go mute when their names are called, so their parents will account for them. Finally, there are the stars who consistently have appropriate, ready responses when their names are called. God love them!

Last night, we sang “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.” I wondered about what questions will be posed for us at our Heavenly reunion. Will the Almighty ask me my favorite Bible verse or that I name one of Jesus’s miracles? Will it be something easy or a head-scratcher as I enter the gates?

And, what of my response to Him? Surely, I won’t appear clueless or oblivious, but rather attentive and engaged. I hope to be prepared, so as not to keep Him waiting, and I would wish to be humble, but not speechless. No attention-seeking silliness or comedic answers will do. I’d like to have a stellar response.

Perhaps, I should just hope that our Heavenly Father is less judgmental and more patient than any busy 4-H mom!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help me to be prepared for that awesome meeting with You that awaits me, and all my brothers and sisters in Christ.

“For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel” (Ezra 7:10 NIV).

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